OC Register: Mike Moustakas enjoying career revival with Angels

[AngelsWin.com]

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas celebrates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas hits a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas watches the flight of his three-run home run during the sixth inning of their 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas, center, celebrates with Brandon Drury and Shohei Ohtani, second from right, hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas celebrates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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  Angels third baseman Mike Moustakas throws out the Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry at first base during the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers late last month in Detroit. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas hits a single during the fifth inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers late last month in Detroit. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning of their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night at Angel Stadium. The Angels hit four homers in an 8-5 win. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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  Mike Moustakas, right, watches from the dugout in Denver during his first game in an Angels uniform on Sunday, June 25, 2023, a day after he was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

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  The Angels’ Mike Moustakas celebrates in the dugout after scoring what proved to be the winning run on a double by Mickey Moniak in the 10th inning of their 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night in Detroit. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

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  Angels infielder Mike Moustakas, who reached a pair of World Series with the Kansas City Royals (winning it in 2015), has wasted little time demonstrating leadership abilities in his short time with his new team. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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HOUSTON — This season has been something of a rebirth for Mike Moustakas.

The Southern California native is back near family and friends while playing with the Angels. He’s back at the position – third base – that he calls “home.” And he’s also been producing offensive numbers similar to what he did in his prime, including a knack for clutch hits that had made him a fan favorite.

“I think he’s found a boost of energy coming here, a fountain of youth, whatever you want to call it,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said.

Moustakas, who turns 35 in a month, is undoubtedly in the final stages of a career that began when the Kansas City Royals used the second overall pick in the draft to pluck him out of Chatsworth High in 2007. A season without a trip to the injured list has him feeling confident about what he can do.

“It feels great,” Moustakas said. “I know I can still compete at a high level. I know I can still play this game at this level and be a productive bat and third baseman as long as I’m healthy. … I feel like there’s some more left in the tank to maybe play for another couple years.”

Over the previous two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, Moustakas was on the injured list 10 times. In between all of that, he hit .212 with a .646 OPS. The Reds released him in January, with one season and more than $21 million left on his contract.

The Colorado Rockies signed Moustakas to a low-risk minor league deal. He has been healthy the whole season.

Moustakas had a .270 average with a .795 OPS with the Rockies. The Angels acquired him in June after a run of injuries to their infielders, and he’s responded by hitting .285 with an .814 OPS in 34 games with them.

He’s been particularly effective in the small sample of at-bats with runners in scoring position. He is 11 for 37 (.297) with 19 RBIs with runners in scoring position since joining the Angels. Moustakas has also hit seven home runs with the Angels, and six of them have put the Angels in the lead or tied the score, including one on Wednesday night.

“Just pro at-bats,” Nevin said. “You can see a guy that understands what a pitcher is trying to do to him. He studies it. He’s always asking questions, but he also has a history in his head, what teams are trying to do to him. He talks about it a lot in the dugout, which is a big leadership quality he has.

“You can tell he goes up with a plan. Nobody’s perfect every time but you certainly see a different side of him when guys are out there. The concentration goes up. The focus goes up. He sticks to his game plan. That’s what the best RBI guys do.”

Moustakas said he learned about hitting in clutch situations back when he was a young player with the Royals. He said he remembers conversations with Hall of Famer George Brett.

“He would always tell me to slow my heart rate in those big situations,” Moustakas said. “The slower you can get your heart rate going, the easier it is to see the ball and hit it. So I try and do that every time a big situation comes up. Just remember that (the pitcher) is the guy that’s in trouble. All I gotta do is just stick to my approach, stick to my plan. Put a good swing on it and good things are gonna happen.”

Moustakas has not only provided value to the Angels with his bat but with the ability to play third. Moustakas came up as a third baseman, but in recent years moved to first and even second. Anthony Rendon’s injury has cleared the way for Moustakas to get back to third.

“I love third base,” Moustakas said. “When I play third base, it just feels natural again over there. All the angles and ground balls feel good. It’s fun to be back home.”

Moustakas also has emerged as a clubhouse leader. It was Moustakas who called a team meeting at a workout during the All-Star break, even though he’d only been with the team for a few weeks.

Whether Moustakas returns to the Angels next year remains to be seen. He is set to be a free agent. He admits that he enjoys playing close to home and he likes his new teammates, but he’s trying not to look beyond the job the Angels face over the final 46 games of the season.

“I’m focused solely on what’s going on today and trying to do everything we can do to get to the postseason,” Moustakas said. “After that, everything will happen the way it’s supposed to happen.”

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-8, 4.78 ERA) at Astros (RHP Justin Verlander, 6-6, 3.11 ERA), Friday, 5:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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